Make Any Printer AirPrint Compatible

AirPrint is definitely one of the more convenient features of iOS and thanks to a new tool you can turn any printer connected to your Mac or Windows PC into an AirPrint compatible printer. The utility is called AirPrint Hacktivator and it’s very easy to use, this is a much simpler method than using the prior hack to manually enable AirPrint in Mac OS X 10.6.5.

A message window will come up telling you to adjust your printer setup to enable AirPrint

Go to System Preferences -> Print & Fax and then delete and re-add the printer you want to use with AirPrint

Select the checkbox next to “Share this printer on the network”

Close System Preferences

Your newly added printer will have full AirPrint support and compatibility now, fire up your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS and try out AirPrint. The primary requirement on the iOS side of things is 4.2.1 or later, which unless you have a very old device is certainly the case.

Of course many of us also have Windows PC’s on the network, so let’s get AirPrint working on those shared Windows printers too:

How to enable AirPrint Printer support in Windows

The Windows method was hacked together by a German team and it’s slightly different but still very easy to use:

[…] it involves using a hack and the printer must be hooked up to a Mac or Windows PC to work. You can make any printer AirPrint compatible for both Mac OS X and Windows, using something called AirPrintHacktivator, but it may be unreliable […]

Enabled on PC running XP. I had to add airprint to firewall exceptions manually. If you’re not sure of what user name to use go to All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Information. Just type in what is given after the forward slash to the right of the User Name entry. Then enter the password you use to login to windows.

[…] we’re on the topic of printers, if you haven’t yet, you can make any printer AirPrint compatible by using a third party tool. Without this tool, AirPrint wireless printing is limited to a select […]

i installed this and it allowed me to see my printers on my iphone 4. we have our printer (hp photosmart plus) connected to the Time Capsule and that allows us to print wirelessly from our laptops. when i go to print from my iphone it says “you do not have permission to use this printer.” how do i fix this?

This app worked great and I can print from my Ipad. I set it up hoping it would allow me to print receipts using Square. When I go to set up the printer in square it says “No Compatible Printers Found.” Any suggestions on how to make it work?